Elon Musk looks into the idea of ​​a tunnel in Sydney of a billion dollars

The idea is that an underground transit tunnel would directly help connect parts of the western part of Sydney to the city center and would allow commuters to move at much higher speeds than land routes.

Mr. Musk did not pitch the idea but answered a question from NSW Independent Member Jeremy Buckingham on Twitter.

"I am a legislator in Sydney, who chokes on the traffic. How much does it take to build a 50km tunnel across the Blue Mountains and open up the west of our state? He asked Mr. Musk.

Well known for his relentless use of Twitter, Musk said that $ 15 million per kilometer would be needed for the two-way tunnel and an additional $ 50 million per station. Given the length needed for such a tunnel, the impromptu quote approximates the billion dollar.

Mr. Buckingham tweeted an image of a potential route for such a project.

The 47-year-old entrepreneur is best known for being the founder and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX. More recently, he founded the Boring Company, promising to dig tunnels, wherever anyone lets it go.

Musk unveiled a first prototype of its underground transportation system in Los Angeles in December.

Rather than driving alone, their vehicle is secure on platforms capable of moving at high speed between metro stations. Or so the idea goes.

While social media sharing sounds a little ridiculous – and it's an unconventional way to develop a policy – it's not the first time a Twitter conversation has been successful. the construction of a vast infrastructure funded by the Australian State Government.

When Mike Cannon-Brookes, a leading Australian entrepreneur in the technology sector, tweeted to Musk about building a giant battery in southern Australia less than two years ago, construction was quickly launched.

This project proved to be a huge success, but this last idea is much less likely to materialize.

Mr. Buckingham included Mr. Cannon-Brookes in the original tweet and the co-founder of the Atlbadian software company seemed to like the idea. "It sounds like a good deal for Sydney," he writes.

The former Greens MP, who resigned from the party in December to run as an independent, agreed.

"Thanks buddy, it sounds like a good deal," Buckingham replied to Musk's reply, "could be a game changer to go under the Blue Mountains with a modern link between Sydney and the west. I will raise it with the Prime Minister [Gladys Berejiklian], other colleagues, community, and come back to you. "

Mr. Buckingham has lobbied for the project since the 1990s, when he was an adviser to Orange in the New South Wales area.

"For the price of stadium destruction, Elon Musk said that he could build for NSW a transportation loop that would make the envy of the whole world," he said. morning in a statement.

"Autonomous electric vehicles generating no pollution are the future of transport. It would be a folly not to study further what could be a game changer of infrastructure and planning for Sydney and our regions. "

Elon Musk's Boring has not started any serious projects yet.

– with PAA